Press.



DE LESLIE '0'. FITCH.

PRESS.

11221110111011 FILED NOV. 7, 1911. 1,023,145. Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

f 6 aw -1 1 -1 1 I l :L 0 e COLUMBIA PLANOEIRAPH 120., WASHINGTON, D. c.

WITNESSES /K u DE LESLIE G. FITCH.

PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1911. 1,023,145, Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Q&& Mm

DE LESLIE C. FITCH, OF BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.

PRESS.

Application filed. November 7, 1911.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Serial No. 659,017.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DE LESLIE C. FITCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baton Rouge, in the parish of East Baton Rouge and State ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presses,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to presses and has particular reference to amachine of this character for repressing bales of cotton or the like.

The cotton direct from the in is ordinarily pressed into comparatlvelylarge bales which have to be repressed before the cotton can be shipped,to save space. The machine for repressing bales of cotton has to bestrong and capable of exerting a high pressure. When the bale of cottonis placed in the second press to be repressed, the iron bands havingbeen previously removed therefrom, sald bale will expand and take up aconsiderable amount of space. In the first part of the operation of therecompressor, very little force is necessary to press the soft expandedbale of cotton into its original size. The ordinary recompressor wastesa great deal of power and time in the first part of the process ofrecompressing the bale. After the bale is recompressed to its originalsize, greater pressure is necessary to further compress it.

An important object of this invention is to provide a machine of theabove mentioned character, so constructed that the first part of itscompressing operation will be quick to take up lost space and compressthe soft expanded bale to its original size and the subsequent part ofsuch compressing operation will be slow and exerting greater pressure.

A further object of this invention is to provide a press which iscompact, strong, and quick and cheap to operate, saving both time andpower.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification andin' which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughoutthe same, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my press, showing the platensforced together for compresslng a bale of cotton, Fig. 2 is a side viewof the same, the elements being disposed in the into the upper end ofthe cylinder 10.

preferred embodiment of my invention, the

numeral 1 designates a base or foundation, formed of brick or the like,and upon which is mounted a hydraulic ram or press comprising a cylinder2, receiving a reciprocatory plunger 3. At its upper end, this plungerhas connection with a lower vertically movable platen or bed 4, providedat its corners with guide brackets 5, to travel on uprights or verticalposts 6, as shown. These posts 6 are rigidly connected with thefoundation 2, as shown.

Disposed above the platen or bed 4 is an upper vertically movable platen7 provided at its corners with guide brackets 8, to receive the posts 6,as shown. Rigidly connected with the upper ends of the posts 6 is anarch-frame 9, upon the upper portion of which is rigidly mounted acylinder 10, secured thereto by bolts 11 or the like. A piston 12 ismounted'to reciprocate within'this cylinder and a rod 13 is rigidlyconnected with the piston. Steam is supplied into the upper and lowerends of the cylinder 10 through pipes 14 and 15, having connection witha common valve structure 16. Connected with this valve structure is alever or handle 17, which when swung downwardly will operate theinterior mechanism of the valve structure 16 to supply steam into thelower portion of a cylinder 10 through the pipe 15. When this handle 17is moved upwardly from its normal horizontal position steam will besupplied to the pipe 14 A pipe 18 supplies steam to the valve structure16. I

Disposed above the upper platen 7 are sectors 19, arranged within thearch-frame 9 and having pivotal connection therewith by heavy pins 20,as shown. As more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the outer portion of each ofthese sectors is formed thick, while the inner portion thereof isreduced in thickness and provided upon its curved ed e with teeth 20',to engage teeth 21 forme upon the lower portion of the rod or 'bar 13.The platen 7 1s provided midway its ends and upon its upper surface witha well or opening 22, to receive the lower end of the rod or bar 13, fora purposeto be described.-

' links.

Rigidly mounted upon the upper surface of the platen 7 adjacent the endsthereof and.

between the posts 6 are metal chairs 26,

provided with vertical shoulders or stops 27. These chairs are rigidlyconnected with the platen 7 by bolts 28 or the like.

The operation ofthe press is as follows The platen 7 is moved to itsuppermost position and the platen 4 is moved to its lowermost position.The metallic bands are re moved from the bale of cotton, which is nowplaced between these platens. The bale of cotton expands and iscomparatively soft and it requires only a comparatively low pressure tocompress the same to its normal size or a little less. Steam is nowintroduced into the upper end of the cylinder 10, forcing the piston 12downwardly and effecting a corresponding movement of the rod 13-. Thesectors 19 are swung outwardly and downwardly and through the medium ofthe links 23 effect a quick downward movement of the platen 7, tocompress the comparatively soft bale. The movement of the sectors 19 isstopped when the same engage the chairs 26 and the shoulders 27 thereof.These sectors are thus temporarily locked in this position. Attention iscalled to the fact that when the sectors 19 engage the chairs 26 thelower end of the rod 13 will also engage the bottom wall of the well oropening 22. Pressure is now introduced into the cylinder 2, causing thepiston 3 and platen 4 to move upwardly, for compressing the bale againstthe now stationary upper platen 7. The heavy ressure to be' placed uponthe bale is exerted thereon by the lower platen 4. This heavy pressureis transferred to the upper platen 7 and to the archframe 9 through themedium of the sectors 19. When the sectors are in the position shown inFig. 1, the burden of the pressure is in perpendicular lines passingthrough the pins 20. This pressure is not taken up by the links 23,owing to the elongated open ings formed through the upper end of theselinks. The engagement of the lower end of the rod 13 with the bottomwall of the well 22 also serves to rigidly hold the platen 7 in place.It is thus seen that the platen 7 is locked with the arch-frame 9 andforms in effect a strong integral structure therewith. When steam isintroduced below the piston 12 in the cylinder 10, the piston iselevated, carrying with it the rod 13. The sectors 19 are now swunginwardly and upwardly. These sectors first clear the inner ends ofthechairs 26 without causing any perceptible movement of the platen 7,which results from providing the upper ends of the links 23 with theelongated openings. Further movement of these sectors in the samedirection cause the platen 7 to be elevated, through the medium of thelinks 23.

I wish it understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatcertain changes in the shape, size, and arrangement'of parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of thesubjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a press of thecharacter described, a supporting structure, an upper movable platen,pivoted sectors disposed above the same, means connecting said sectorswith the platen, elements rigidly mounted upon'the platen and disposedin the path of travel of the sectors, a lower movable platen, means tomove the sectors, and means to move the lower platen.

2. In a press of the character described, a supporting structure, anupper movable platen, pivoted sectors disposed above the platen, linksconnecting the sectors and platen, said platen being provided upon itsupper surface with a well, a rack bar operating in engagement with thesectors and adapted to engage the bottom of said well 1 when saidsectors have been swung to their lowermost positions, chairs rigidlymounted upon the platen and disposed in the path of travel of saidsectors to define their lowermost positions, a lower platen, means tomove the same, and means to move the rack-bar.

3-. In a press of the character described,

a supporting structure, a lower platen, an

ture and adapted upon operation to first move one platen inwardlyquickly, and subsequently rigidly lock the same platen with thesupporting structure, and means to move the other platen inwardly.

5. In a press of the character described, a supporting structure,movable upper and lower platens, sectors pivotally connected with theupper platen, and elements rigidly connected with the upper platen anddisposed in the path of travel of said sectors.

6. In a press of the character described, a base, posts disposedthereon, a hydraulic ram mounted upon the base and including a cylinderand piston operating therein, a platen connected with the upper end ofthe cylinder and guided in its movement by said posts, a second platendisposed above the first named platen, and guided in its movement bysaid posts, an arch-frame connected with the upper ends of the posts,sectors disposed in the arch-frame and pivotally connected therewith,links having pivotal connections with the lower portions of the sectorsand the upper platen, chairs rigidly mounted upon the upper surface ofthe upper platen and disposed in the path of travel of said sectors, acylinder rigidly mounted upon the arch-frame, a piston operatingtherein, and a rod having connec tion with the last named piston anddisposed between said sectors and provided with teeth to engage theteeth of said sectors. Y

7. In a press of the character described, a supporting structure,co-acting platens, and means connected with the supporting structure andone platen and adapted to first move the same platen inwardly quicklyand subsequently rigidly lock the same platen with the supportingstructure.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DE LES LIE C. FITCH.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. LAYCOOK, L. D. BEALE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G.

